Clock



3o 1924. Dec A. P. HoDGE cmcx Filed Dec. 22, 1922 .l M 7. Im MM M 5 n fw 2 m@ y H w Tim n f A.. 4/ UliL m l. 7 ll- M f. 2 6 4/ Y /M Z 3 M u .f 4 l 3 L, ma /4 H Il. 2 .4 n ...vIMnAun El il@ H1 /7 n m 2 m m @n Patented Esc. 3d, 1924.

STATES PATENT FFCE.

ALBERT P. HOBGE, OF 'WIjNSflEDy CNI'GTIGUT, gLSSiG-NCR TO WILLIAM L. GILBERT CLOCK GOM'PANY, OFWIN'STD. CONNECTICUT, A. CGRPQRATON GF CONEECTI'CUI.

CLOCK.

Application filed. December 22, 19,22.

fo alt fui/boat t may conce/ra:

Be it known that I, Annnirr P. Hosen. a citizen ot the United States, residing at sted, county ot Litchlield, State ot Conaout, have invented a certain new and useful lmproveijnent in Cloclgsy` o-t' which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to clocks and more particularly to cloclijs of the type having a casing provided With removable back cover by which the Works are carried, and has 'tor its principal; object to provide a clock ot this type of novel and improved construction in which the nrain driving gear, its arbor and the main spring` may he easily removed and replaced. A furthe-r object is to enable the replacement of a broken main spring Without disassembling the Works ot lthe clocky mechanism as a Whole.

The sever-al features of the invention will be clearly understood from the following description and accompanying drawings, in Which,

Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of portion of the clock mechanism and the back cover ot a clock einbodyins my invention;

2 is a sectionalv View, partly in elevation, taken on the line 2 2 ot Fig. l;

is. a section-al elevation taken on the line 3 ..31 of Fig. 1;

Fig Ll is a detail Side elevation7 partly in section and on an enlarged scale, or a portion of the clock mechanism, but showing a modification of the bearing for one end of the main spring arbor g` and v Fig. 5 is a detail side elevation of the outer end portion ot the main spring.

The clock histrated in the drawings is provided with, a removable back c ffising cover 2 to which is detachably secu ed the clock mechanism and its supporting ame. This frame comprises iront and rear trame mem- ,Y el. and jjrespectiy/ely, that are connected by post-s` 84. The forward end et the posts vS are rigidly secured .to the front` frame member 4: in the usual manner and. the real' ends of the posts 8 entend through apertures in the. rear trame member 6 and are reduced il) diameter so as to form shoulders 10 that cooperate with Washers and nuts 12 screw-threaded on said reduced ends to securely. clamp the rear trame member -6 'between*them9 and thus secure the vfront Serial No. 605,397.

and rear trame members together. The reduced ends oit the posts S extending beyond the nuts 12 are passed through apertures in the back cover 2 and nuts 141 are screwthreaded on their estreme ends so, as to cooperate with the nuts 12 to clamp the back coter between them and thus detachably secure the clock mechanism and its trame to the cove-r 2.

The parts or' the clock mechanism illu-strated in the drawings comprise a driving gear 16, its arbor 18, and a main spring 20. The forward end of the arbor is reduced in diameter and extends through and is journaled in an aperture in the front frame member et, and in accordance with the present invention the rear end ot the arbor is reduced in diameter to form a shoulder v22, and in the constructions illustrated in Figs.. 1 and 2 this reduced end extends through andis jonrnaled in a bearing,` member 24 which is secured by rivets 2G to the inner tace of the back cover, the rivets extending through late-rally extending ears on opposite sides of saidmembcr. The arbor 18 is of the usual construction, the shoulder 22 of the arbor being arranged substantially7 in the plane of the forward side ci the rear frame member. rlhe end of the bearing member 24 entends u-p to this shoulder so as to prevent rearward axial movement of the arbor. The aperture in the bearing member 24 registers With an opening in the back cover, and the reduced rear end of the arbo-r extends through this opening so as to enable -a Winding key 27 (indicated by broken lines) toy be applied thereto. The bearing member 2a is axially counter-sunk on its rear side so as to enable the shank ot the Winding ley to exten d 'turther up on the end of the arbor.

Trie main spring '2Oy is applied to the arbor 13` in the l nr 3 the i kner end ot the spring being de e eoured to 'the arbor by means ot a lub o ou tl -v ai which is receiyed .in an aperture in the Spring la the illust-rated. eQnst-ruelolt however. nov-el and improved mA-` is provided for detachably securing the outer end of the main spring in place, the means being such that the end of the spring may be easily attached and detached Without disconnecting the 'frame members i and 6. A

mb shown. this means comprises a plate 29 Which 1s secured tothe outer end of the main spring by means of rivet-s 30. The plate is provided with a depending hook member or lug 31 on its lower longitudinal edge which, when the spring is in place on its arbor, is adapted to be hooked over the end wall of an elongated slot 32 in the rear frame member G. With this construction it will be apparent that the tension of the main spring will serve to irmly hold the hook Inember 31 in locking engagement with thc end wall of the slot 32, and that the end of the spring may be easily detached from the rear frame member when desired, by pulling the end of the spring longitudinally so as to disconnect the hook member 31 from the wall of the slot 32 and then lifting the hook member out of the slot.

The clock illustrated in the drawings is provided with a striking mechanism which, as shown, comprises a driving gear 34, its arbor 36 and main spring 38. When the clock is thus provided with a striking mechanism, the outer end of the striker main spring 38 preferably is detachably secured to the front frame member 4 in the same way as the main spring 20 is secured to the rear frame member 6, as above described, and the rear reduced end of the arbor 36 extends through and is journaled in al bearing member 40 that is secured to the rear frame member 6 and corresponds to the bearing member 24.

With the construction above described it will be apparent that upon removing the winding keys and the nuts 14 from the frame posts 8, the clock mechanism and frame may be removed as a whole from the back casing cover 2, the rear ends of the arbors 18 and 30 being slipped out of the bearing members 24 and 40. The arbor 18, driving gear 16 and main spring 20 may then be easily removed from and replaced as a unit on the clock mechanism frame upon disengaging the outer end of the spring from the rear frame member, the rear frame member being cut away at 42 so as not to interfere with the removal of these parts. Thus the arbor, driving gear and main spring of the clock mechanism may be easil removed for the purpose of replacing a broken spring or for repair without in any way displacing other parts of the clock mechanism. It will also be apparent that as the arbor, driving gear and main spring of the striker mechanism are constructed and arranged similar to said corresponding parts of the clock mechanism, that these parts may likewise be easily removed and replaced.

In the construction illustrated in Fig. 4 the bearing member for the rear end of the arbor 18 consists of an annular block 44 which is rigidly secured to the rim of a circular aperture in the back casing cover 2. The bearing block is provided with a reduced rear' end portion that is passed through the circular aperture in the back casing cover with the shoulder at the upper end of the reduced portion abutting the inner face of the cover, and then the end of the block projecting beyond the cover is spiked or headed over so as to cooperate with said shoulder to securely grip the rim of said aperture.

As will be evident to those skilled in the art my invention permits of various modifications without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A clock of the type having its casing provided with a removable back cover hav- 1ng, in combination, a frame having-front and rear frame members, means for detachably securing said frame to the back cover, a clock mechanism comprising a drivin gear, an arbor for said gear having one en journaled in the front frame member, a bearing member for the other end of said arbor secured to said back cover and through which said end extends, and a main spring havin one end detachably connected with sai frame and its other end connected with said arbor, said parts being constructed and arranged so as to enable the arbor, gear and spring to be removed from said frame when said frame is removed from the cover.

2. A clock of the type having its casing provided with a removable back cover havmg, in combination, a frame having front and rear frame members, means for detachably securing said frame to the back cover, a clock mechanism mounted in said frame comprising a driving gear, an arbor for said gear having one end journaled in the front side frame and having its other end reduced in diameter so as to form a shoulder in substantially the plane of the rear side frame, a bearing member secured to the cover and through which said reduced end of the arbor extends, the :forward end of the bearing member extending to said shoulder on the arbor to prevent rearward axial movement of the arbor, and a main spring having one end detachably connected with said frame and its other end connected with the arbor, said parts being constructed and arranged so as to enable the arbor, gear and spring to be removed from said frame when the frame is removed from the cover.

3. A clock of the type having its casing provided with a removable back cover having, in combination, a frame having front and rear frame members and connecting parts having their rear ends reduced in diameter and extending through a ertures in the rear frame member and the ack cover, nuts screw-threaded on the reduced end of each of the posts arranged to clam the cover between them so as to detacha 1y secure said frame to the cover, a clock mechanism mounted in said frame comprising a drivand a clock mechanism mounted therein Comprising a removable arbor, a driving gear on said arbor, a main spring having one end secured to the arbor and its other end provided with a lateral forwardly projecting hook, one of said frame members having a slot adjacent to the outer end of said spring, said hool passing through said slot and being hooked over the Wall of said slot so as to detaehably secure said end of the spring to said frame member.

ALBERT P. HODGE. 

